Undoubtedly
by Varmint
Summary: Anko Mitarashi was insane. Everyone knew this. But everyone knew you couldn't tell her she was just that- you ran the risk of finding out you were her soulmate that way. A soulmate which, by the way, she wanted nothing to do with... Unfortunately, it seems Kurenai was not aware of this. Anko/Kurenai Rare (?) Pair! Soulmate AU! Sequel to Understandable and the rest. One-shot!


"You're insane."

"Undoubtedly, smartest thing I've heard all day."

It took both women a moment to notice what had been said between them.

And the already disorganized and loud Missions Office finished the descent into complete chaos and pandemonium.

~/~

Anko Mitarashi was known as Ibiki Morino's pet project. She was wild, untamed, and unstable. Everyone she had ever talked to thought she was evil incarnate- a perfect representation of how truly twisted Orochimaru had been. The only reason she was allowed to work as an active shinobi was because Ibiki Morino and Inoichi Yamanaka had both vouched for her skills in the Information Gathering Branch of T&I and the Fourth Hokage was known for his mercy for the younger generations.

People were right to think she was a liability. They were even correct to think that she was untrustworthy. She was. She knew it. But that didn't mean she wasn't loyal to Konoha. It just meant she was much more eccentric than should be allowed in a ninja society- how in the world had they even allowed her to become a genin even when she had shown such a strong disposition for questioning and undermining authority?

When she had turned eighteen, she got her soulmark- a nice, crisp line of words that had made her burst out into bitter laughter as soon as she had read them.

 _You're insane._

At that age, still struggling with her identity and with Orochimaru-sensei just recently becoming one of the worst traitors Konohagakure had seen, finding out her soulmate's first words to her had been the worst thing possible.

Then and there, she had decided that she never wanted to meet her soulmate. It was no secret- anyone that mattered in the Village knew very well about Anko's quest to never meet her (rude) soulmate. Because of this, everyone knew what her soulmate's first words to her would be. Many people avoided saying that to her as their first interaction just to make sure that the insane kunoichi wasn't their own soulmate.

Her life had gone over pretty well after she had decided she never wanted to meet her soulmate. She forced Ibiki Morino into being her best friend when he was just starting out at T&I. And then she forced him to get her a job there and help her be promoted to tokubetsu jounin under his command. He had allowed both those things; he had never allowed her to talk about soulmates in front of him, though.

Morino was the only person in her life that had ever mattered enough to her and earned her respect that she strived to never piss off... _Emotionally_ , that is. They avoided heavy topics- that didn't mean she didn't annoy the ever living crap out of the man that had reluctantly (appreciatively and gratefully) accepted her as his friend.

It was a game, honestly: Who could piss Morino off the most before the day was over?

Most ninja in T&I had taken part in the tradition at least once in their career. Morino hated it, of course, and growled and snarled at them over how childish and unprofessional they were. But, secretly, Morino loved the insanity the tokubetsu jounin under his command wrought.

The Village didn't appreciate it as much, but they didn't matter, so fuck 'em.

It was because she was currently working on pissing Morino off that she found herself in the hectic Missions Office.

Said office was known to be one of the most chaotic work environments offered in Konoha- only bested by the Hokage's own office and T&I itself. Anko had never bought it, though, because her Ru-Ru-chan always managed to keep good control of the Office when he was working.

It seemed that he wasn't in today, though, and she'd be damned if she didn't take advantage of this.

She had begun gradually: First she had arrived to casually ask if there were any missions available for her. The unfortunate kid working, a chunin with more hair than face, had stuttered out that he did not have anything at the moment. She had smirked in that way she knew could make people's skin crawl and patted him on the head, "I'll wait."

After that, she had shacked up near the vending machines and bought herself a soda. When a stray genin had made her way towards the machine- _pink hair_ ; poor kid-, the woman had offered to buy something for her. The girl had been shocked, Anko had just told her that she only needed her to do one small favor for her. The girl had agreed, taken the photograph she had been offered, and Anko had sat back to watch the chaos.

The photograph was one of resident hothead, Tokara, with a bottle of sake in one hand and Genma Shiranui in the other... _Raidou and Kakashi's_ Genma in his other hand.

The girl did as instructed and handed the photo to resident gossip, Yūgao. The woman was known as calm, loyal, and kind, but she had one major flaw: her love of the rumor mill.

In no time, the whole office had begun to whisper about Ibiki's old pal, Tokara, and the Copy-nin's lover, Genma. From that small seed, everything eventually devolved and, in a jump that always brought a smile to her lips, Anko witnessed as papers began to reign the skies, punches were let loose, screaming became the only noise, and the ceiling fan somehow caught fire.

In the midst of it all, she could see three confused genin staring as their higher ups began to lose all control of their respectability.

Anko had never understood just how a rumor of one person could cause other people to lose control. She guessed that it had something to do with the fact that by one small rumor being unleashed, everyone was made uneasy about their own vulnerability. That vulnerability then led them to their instincts of survival, making them turn feral.

Well, that and the fact that these were all mostly insane and impulsive chunin, seeing how the more composed jounin were supposed to be recovering so they were sent on their own missions by these very idiots.

By the time she heard someone yelling out, "Fight this oppressive regime! Down with the jounin!", Anko couldn't help but begin to laugh from her perch besides the vending machines.

It was at this moment that she heard a soft, almost melodic, woman speak to her.

"You're insane."

She was too enraptured in glee to notice what had been said.

"Undoubtedly," she breathed out, "smartest thing I've heard all day."

Anko froze after having spoken up, though, suddenly noticing what she had heard.

She turned around, only to face the equally surprised looking Kurenai Yūhi staring down at her.

They both looked at their arms at the same time, Anko cursing at the fact that she had let her guard down and accidentally stumbled upon her soulmate.

Unfortunately, the second resident gossip hound, Kotetsu Hagane, happened to be passing by at that moment with a soggy stack of papers in his hands. He had most probably been running them to dry them before all of the information was lost... But, seeing how everyone knew what two words should _never_ be told to Anko, he had come to a screeching halt to see if what he had heard had been right.

"Holy f- guys! Anko found her soulmate!"

The already mad Missions Office became even less safe at that point.

~..~..~

And that is the story of how Anko and Kurenai met. Hope you enjoyed it! Please review!


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